Editor’s note: The podcast Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life’s mysteries big and small. You can listen to episodes here.
(CNN) — If you consume any kind of media, traditional or social, at some point you have encountered a health claim that emits a whiff of something being “off.” Maybe it’s the unsubstantiated reasons for a growing measles outbreak, the supposed lack of efficacy and safety of certain vaccines despite studies proving otherwise, or the urgent need to start consuming a particular supplement for hard-to-prove health benefits.
Such claims are nothing new: Self-proclaimed health prophets and doomsayers have been around for a long time, promising to cure serious conditions, espousing medical conspiracies or trying to garner attention by sprinkling doubt and panic.
Medical misinformation (if not downright disinformation) spiked during the pandemic and continues to surface with some of the Trump administration’s controversial nominations and confirmations to top public health posts.
Laurel Bristow, an infectious disease researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, started fighting misinformation and disinformation during the pandemic. Her Instagram account — formerly KingGutterBaby — focused on combating rampant myths and conspiracy theories that were circulating online at the time.
“I would be at the hospital all day, and then I would come home and sit in my kitchen and set up my little tripod and record videos,” Bristow told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently on his podcast Chasing Life.
“It felt very important to me at the time because I had such a close understanding — or as much of an understanding as you could — about the virus and what was happening and infectious disease in general, that that gave me a lot of comfort,” she said. “And I wanted other people to understand it so that they could make decisions and feel empowered in the decisions that they were making rather than scared of what was happening.”
Bristow called information empowering. “(The situation is) not necessarily less scary, but it’s less anxiety-inducing, and you can feel a little bit more in control of what is happening,” she said. “And I think that is really helpful for people to stay grounded.”
Today, Bristow continues her work in infectious diseases as the associate program director for the Emory/Georgia Tuberculosis Research Advancement Center. And she is also the host of “Health Wanted,” a health podcast on Atlanta’s NPR affiliate, WABE.
And she’s still providing accurate information and debunking false claims on social media. (Her new Instagram account has a less colorful name.)
“There’s part of me that’s like, ‘Man, after five years, I thought I was going to be off the hook,’” Bristow said. “But I do feel very passionately about this. I feel very passionately about people getting accurate information and feeling empowered in the decisions that they make for themselves and their families. So, I’m going to keep doing what I do.”
You can listen to the podcast’s full episode here.
How can you determine if something contains misinformation or disinformation? Bristow has these five tips to help you evaluate claims.
Don’t believe everything you read, hear or watch
“If something seems too good or too bad to be true, it probably is,” Bristow said in an email, noting that legitimate gaps in knowledge increasingly feel like they “are being filled with speculation.”
And even established facts “are being overridden with more hysterical claims and conspiracies,” she said.
“People should be encouraged to think more critically and evaluate their information sources,” she said.
Don’t fall into black-and-white thinking
“Science rarely speaks in absolutes,” Bristow said.
“If someone is presenting something as a cure-all or as ‘this is killing you,’ it is rarely that simple.”
She recommends asking yourself: Are the limits of what’s known about a situation clearly stated? Is the level of risk being put into proper context? And is the person behind the information being transparent about their qualifications?
“Someone who presents themselves as an expert without making their credentials, relevant research, or experience available to you, should give you pause,” she said.
Don’t let your buttons be pressed
“Emotional responses are a good way to get engagement,” Bristow noted.
“Untrue medical claims often highlight the danger of something and the risk it poses to you and your family,” she said. “These claims often speak in absolute or definite terms, but science is always evolving, and risks change based on nuanced circumstances.”
Instead, she said, dig deeper into information that makes you panic. “Try to find out if the things they are talking about are based on a large, well-designed study, or if it is based on anecdotal experiences,” she said.
Don’t fall for sales pitches
Conspiracy theories frequently circulate on social media, but there are ways to discern health misinformation. FilippoBacci/E+/Getty Images/File
“If someone is telling you about an issue you didn’t know you might have, AND offering to sell you the solution, that’s a red flag,” Bristow said via email.
“You should investigate where the information is coming from,” she said. “Does the person or organization that is presenting this information have a conflict of interest when it comes to their funding or partners?”
If so, the bar for buying into a cure for a new condition should be raised.
Look for real experts
“Take the time to find science communicators you trust and see what they say about breaking issues,” Bristow said.
“If there is a splashy headline or news, they will likely talk about it,” she said. “A large part of science literacy is helping people understand the limitations of knowledge, which can help them spot bad science.”
Spotting bad science and addressing it before it spreads, she said, can have a huge impact.
We hope these five tips help you spot health claims that merit a deeper dive. Listen to the full episode here. And join us next week for a new episode of the Chasing Life podcast.
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